Revealed: The real reason why MS Dhoni took the ball from the umpire in the 3rd ODI against England

Virat Kohli lost his first ODI series as a captain following England’s 8 wicket win at Leeds earlier this week

MS Dhoni action following the end of 3rd ODI led to rumours surrounding his future in international cricket

Indian coach Ravi Shastri has refuted all speculation regarding MS Dhoni on social media

England’s 8 wicket win in Leeds subjected Virat Kohli to his first ever ODI series defeat as a captain. However, the one player who came under the most criticism during the 3-match ODI series was former captain, MS Dhoni. The wicket-keeper batsman was even booed off by some supporters during the 2nd ODI, for his laborious 59 balls 37 run innings, which culminated in an 86 run defeat for India.

In the 3rd ODI, MS Dhoni was the second highest run-scorer for India with 42 runs but those runs came at a strike-rate of 63.64, which is quite low for the modern game in the limited-over format. However, in the past 48 hours, the latest cricket news that has gripped the cricketing world is that whether the 37-year-old is on the verge of retiring from the limited-overs format as well.

A harmless act by MS Dhoni sends social media in a tizzy

All the speculation on social media regarding Dhoni’s future in international cricket came after a pretty innocuous moment following the end of the 3rd ODI. As the English batsmen and Indian fielders made their way to the dressing room, Dhoni was captured by the cameras asking the on-field umpires for the match-ball, a harmless act but one which created a lot of heat on various social media platforms, with people clamouring to know whether the legendary captain was hanging up his boots in international cricket.

However, as per latest India cricket news, Indian coach Ravi Shastri has refuted all speculation surrounding Dhoni’s future in international cricket. Speaking to TOI soon after the match, Shastri said, “MS wanted to show the ball to Bharat Arun. He wanted to show him the wear and tear the ball had endured, to get a general idea of what the conditions were like.”

Regarding the rumours suggesting that Dhoni is close to hanging up his gloves from International cricket, Shastri said, “That’s rubbish. MS is not going anywhere.”

The rumours regarding MS Dhoni started as many compared his demand for the match ball from the umpires to him taking the stumps after the drawn test match between India and Australia back in 2014, which eventually became his last international test match.

After a glittering career like him, it’s quite shocking to see fans hounding MS Dhoni for his style of play, but coach Shastri believes that this is something the former captain has to get used to though it won’t in any way hamper his position in the team, given how valuable his to the teams think tank. “But right now, all this clamour is nonsense. He just wanted to show the ball to Arun to just have a look at it after close to 45 overs had been bowled,” Shastri said in conclusion.

With the T20I and ODI series finished, Dhoni and the other limited-overs specialist will depart England and come back home, while the Indian team prepares to take on England in a 5-match test series starting 1st August in Birmingham.